A RAINBOW is coming! April 10th 2015

It's been awhile since I've updated. A mixture of life happening incredibly fast, and not really knowing what to say. We went to a new fertility doctor this year, he was amazing and very kind. He listened to our concerns and he helped us figure out where to go from where we were at the time. That meant that, once again, my body was to be put through a lot of tests. So I had ultrasounds and biopsies, more bloodwork than the average vampire's pet human, and an HSG that was, let me tell ya, a barrel of laughs! In May we were told that conceiving without invasive treatments was a 0% chance. On June 9th I went in for my HSG. The small blockages that were possibly there were no longer there by the end of the test. In July my husband took me to a Counting Crow's concert, if you know anything about our love story, you know they're the reason we fell in love to begin with. Then, sometime in the middle of August something incredible happened.I had been feeling nauseous and strange for days. My period was at least a week late but since there was a 0% chance of pregnancy I didn't think anything of it. I wanted to go to the doctor to find out what was wrong but figured I should take a pregnancy test first, just to rule it out before taking any meds that may be prescribed. I called the mister on his way home from work and told him that I was feeling weird and that I wanted to take a test to rule out pregnancy before going to the doctor. He told me there were some tests in a box from when we moved. When he got home he brought in two expired Dollar General tests which I promptly took. Imagine the sheer shock when that second pink line IMMEDIATELY showed up. I mean, as soon as the pee hit it! I had never had a positive test that dark. My positives with Carter were such squinters that I had to tweak the pics and post them in my favorite group of POAS addicts! But these were very clearly positive. I walked out of the bathroom and handed one of the tests to the husband. He looked at it, looked at me and said, "What does that mean? What does that MEAN?" I told him it might mean that he knocked me up, or it might mean that those expired tests were faulty. lol! He put his shoes on and told me he'd be back and headed to Wal*mart to buy non-expired tests. When he got home I ran to the bathroom to try again. This time with a digi and knowing that these results would be accurate. I peed. I sat that test down and stared at the stupid hour glass for what felt like an hour, in reality 3 minutes, and then the word I had waited for for SO long appeared...."PREGNANT." I started laughing, the kind of manic laugh that only a crazy person is capable of. I laughed and smiled, and put my hand on my stomach and just relished in that moment. Then I yelled for my husband. I said something along the lines of, "are you ready to be a daddy again?" and he just stared at me. He said, "no way. How can that happen? I thought that couldn't happen? Are you being serious?" And I handed him the test. His face lit up in a smile I hadn't seen in a long time. Then he looked terrified, his brown face turned pale. He looked at me and said, "Is it okay if I have a beer?" So I grabbed him a beer and we sat on the couch and just held onto each other laughing and smiling and not believing that this was real. He wondered out loud when it could have happened, but I was pretty sure I knew. The next morning I called my fertility doctor's office and said I needed an appointment. The receptionist asked me what I wanted to schedule for and I replied, "well, I'm pretty sure I'm pregnant." She paused for a moment and said, "I'll get you a nurse." Megan, our favorite nurse got on the line and said, "Jackilyn, I hear you might be pregnant? What symptoms are making you think you are?" I said, "for starters, these 4 positive pregnancy tests, and the nausea and exhaustion kind of add to the suspicion." She laughed and said, "4 tests? I'd say you're pregnant alright! Congratulations! We will have you come in next week for an ultrasound." So I went. I had an ultrasound and was told that my baby was "perfect, incredible, marvilous!" The doctor told me that this baby was a "true medical miracle." The husband said, "So, about that 0% chance," to which the doctor replied that this pregnancy could not be explained by science. He told me that I needed to come back in 2 weeks at which point he would release me, if all was well, to a midwife or OB of my choice. I was on egg shells for those two weeks hoping and praying that everything was okay. Once you lose a baby, the next pregnancy isn't easy, it's a constant state of happiness and fear battling each other. I made it to my appointment and got to see our baby again. It is crazy how much bigger a fetus is in a matter of two weeks. The doctor said he or she was still doing perfectly well and that there was nothing to fear at this point. He said to take it easy but not to be afraid because this was a sticky baby. So I went home and relaxed. I told a few people but we decided to wait until we were past the "danger zone" to tell everyone else. So I suffered through intense all day sickness in virtual silence for the next 6 weeks and waited. At 12 weeks I was in a car accident which was terrifying because I thought I might lose our baby. At 14 weeks we had an ultrasound and finally decided to announce to the world that we were, indeed, having a RAINBOW baby. At 16 weeks we discovered that our rainbow is a GIRL and we chose the name Aleigha Lisalyn. Her middle name comes from my cousins Lisa Michelle and Amy Lynn who I know are two of her guardian angels. At 18 weeks we had the anatomy scan and were told that she is a perfect little girl with all of her functioning organs. Now, I am 22 weeks, still dealing with throwing up and random sickness but happier than I could possibly imagine. She kicks me several times a day and I love that feeling. She responds to her daddy's voice, even though he can't feel it yet, and she has her own personality. She is my miracle in every way and I am so blessed to have her growing inside of me. I was so afraid that I'd lose her, I knew I wasn't strong enough to go through that again. But she's safe and she's growing, and every day she's getting more prepared to join us in the world. In 5 weeks we will enter the third trimester, a milestone I wasn't sure I'd ever see! Her daddy is so good about taking care of me and doing all the amazing daddy things. He's such a great man and she's truly lucky he is hers! Just as I am truly lucky he is mine. I wasn't sure when I was going to write this post, because this place is Carter's, and I didn't want to take it over with someone else, but then I realized that Aleigha is part of Carter just as she is a part of me and I don't think he would mind sharing his space one bit. If I'm being honest, I think he asked God to send her to us. I think he knew we needed her. So I guess when I'm saying my thank yous the night she is born I should thank God, Carter, and the Counting Crows. ;)

Here's to Rainbows, and the best years of our lives <3